Bloody Roar II: Released From Their Past
by Tiger5913
Summary: This story focuses around another couple from the BR universe that isn't Uriko and Kenji - this is my first fic on this couple, and hopefully not my last. ^_~


10/11/00

Disclaimer: the characters such as Jane, Long, etc. belong to Hudson (or do they belong to Namco now?), not me

Dedication: God, my parents, my cousins, the readers, and my ever-supportive friends, especially Ryan, Andy, and Curtis

A special dedication: to Curtis, who is a fellow loyal fan of the couple in this story 

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Bloody Roar II: Released From Their Past

By Tiger5913

Poem I wrote for this story:

__

Paths crossed by cause of the ZLF

She is a strong-willed veteran warrior

He is a solitary Kenpo master.

Forged together by fate

Interest sparkles between the two

Sometimes, instead of action

Being louder than words,

It can actually be the opposite.

Can anything spark up between

These two people that seem to

Live on different wavelengths?

_Whooooosh…_

A tiny tornado of leaves swirled around in a spiral shape as the wind caught them and raised the thin objects into the air. Small bright stars twinkled overhead like miniature light bulbs, barely brightening up the darkened night sky. Chirping noises were heard from crickets roaming the stout bushes; a hoot came from a hole in a nearby tree, and a pair of round yellow eyes was spotted. 

A sigh came out from the mouth of a pondering figure as a stronger breeze swiftly flew through their long blonde strands. Sitting atop the cold stone porch, the young figure's eyes turned to glance at the people inside the house. Their gaze flickered at a blue-haired woman conversing with her 'mother', along with her brown headed boyfriend. The eyes then looked at a blonde man laughing lightheartedly with another woman. 

__

Father…Jenny…

A half-smile appeared on the figure's face when spotting a young couple asleep on the couch, the auburn-haired birthday girl resting on her boyfriend's lap. The roaming eyes suddenly caught the gaze of the last person at the party. Breaking the eye contact, the figure quickly turned away and stood up, slowly walking to around the corner into the backyard of the house. Through the darkness, she spotted a rectangular white punching bag. 

__

Hmmm…so the kid's got a punching bag? Never would have guessed it… She mused, smirking as she approached the object. Smoothing out her light blue shirt and shorts, she set her jaw and eyed it carefully. With her fists protected by the sky blue gloves she was wearing, the young woman started throwing punches at the bag. 

"…Stressed?" someone asked from behind in a quiet tone.

She stopped and turned around. "What're you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Jane," her companion answered with a small smile.

Narrowing her cool blue eyes, Jane Gado grumbled at him, then socked the bag forcefully. A woman of twenty, she liked victories from fighting, and often projected off her fiery temper to others. Well-trained thanks to the sharp skills she had developed from a young age, she felt restless from the non-fighting that was going on those days. Her usual spiky blonde hair was combed down, and her blue shorts shifted as she jumped up and kicked the punching bag with both of her legs. Coming to a shaky landing, she slipped in the soft mud and two arms automatically shot out to catch her. 

Straightening up, she murmured, "Thanks," and went back to her training. 

"What's wrong?" the young man standing somewhat awkwardly nearby her questioned.

"…"

"Jenny and Gado?"

_Damn, right on target._

"…Jane?" He persisted carefully.

"Yeah, okay?!" was her unintentionally harsh answer. She growled as she thought about morphing and really tearing some holes into the punching bag. But instead, Jane settled for executing her "Fire!" tech on it, and watched as the flames licked the rough fabric surrounding the bag. After a few minutes, the fire died away and she sighed.

_I'm glad the thing didn't burn up…_ The blonde woman thought.

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "You are mutilating that bag."

"At least I'm not morphing to tear it apart," she sneered.

"Zoathrope blood…" her companion whispered harshly, speaking as if the words were dirty.

Hesitating, she stopped beating up the bag and turned to face him. "Still hung up on that, Long?"

"It's hard to forget that you can turn into a blood-lusting animal," Long Shin replied.

He became one of Jane's allies a while ago, back when the Zoanthrope Liberation Front had been terrorizing people and wrecking havoc for both regular humans and zoanthropes. The thirty-one-year-old's fighting style was pretty rare amongst the group: Kenpo. However, the year before, he had taught most of his skills to a friend of theirs, Uriko Nonomura. His fighting personality was the opposite of Jane's; Long loathed fighting and only did it when he felt it was absolutely necessary. 

"It's not that bad," Jane protested, then laughed. "Don't tell me you don't get a rush of adrenaline after morphing into a tiger." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "The thrill of a hunt…"

"But where does that lead?" he inquired, casting his dark brown eyes on the blonde-haired girl and meeting her gaze. "Ever think of that? Do you know when to stop attacking, or will you wait until the dead corpse shocks you back to reality??"

Feeling a bit shocked at his response; she stayed silent and went to sit down on the step leading back into the house. Letting out a frustrated sigh at how he'd reacted Long followed her, the end of his dark blue and red Chinese outfit brushing against his ankles. His mid-waist length black hair hung loosely down his back, tied together with a couple of thick red bands.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Forget it, I don't need your sympathy." Jane replied in a soft tone, but then it hardened, "It's just that I don't see how you hate your zoanthrope powers so much." She paused and smiled. "Mine got me to be better at fighting, and it gave me courage to find my way to Father-I mean, Gado, at the battlefield."

"I'm sure it did for all of us," the Asian man remarked. "But it caused a lot of trouble for Stun, Kenji, Uriko, Yugo…" he shut his eyes as he was naming off his allies. "And Shenlong got created by Busuzima."

The blonde-haired girl snorted and told him, "I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say this: I hate Busuzima. Oh well, I was just trying to be optimistic. It's not really my style-"

"-But who cares?" her companion inquired with an amused smile, meeting her gaze.

She laughed. "Yeah; I don't take shit from anyone."

"Don't you think I know that?" Long asked, raising an eyebrow. "I still have a couple of bruises from your 'surprise attack'."

"It wasn't a surprise attack; you saw it coming," she protested. "Besides, a true warrior should never reveal his or her injuries," was Jane's reply as she grinned and wagged a finger at him.

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Jane, I'm halfway to being a recluse; I'm quite far from a warrior."

"Bull," the tomboy answered firmly. "I think you're totally qualified with your morals and values. Quit bringing yourself down."

The Kenpo master caught her eyes with a look of intense vulnerability. "How well do you think you know me, hmm? Do you know what I've done in the past? Will you even remember your opinion on my 'morals and values' if you ever found out?"

"I will. Try me." She replied, wordlessly challenging him with her eyes.

He wasn't expecting that answer and looked off to the side. "…It's a bit late, don't you think?"

"No way; nine o'clock, big deal," Jane said, then her tone of voice took on a lighthearted teasing one. "I'm pretty sure _Daddy_ would let me stay up past that time."

She got a half smile out of that. "Speaking of your father, I noticed that you were straying from him at the party, and when you spoke to him, you sounded a little bitter. Why is that?"

Jane mumbled something under her breath. 

"No, I'm not trying to change the subject," Long told her with a sigh. "I promise I'll tell you about myself…later."

"I didn't say you were trying to," she snapped irritably.

He frowned but then a look of concern came over his face. "Something is upsetting you. What's wrong?"

"It's not really upsetting me, it's just a weird…nagging feeling." The blonde-haired woman said. 

"…You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," her companion assured as he glanced at her tightened facial features and slouched figure. "…But I'll be here…if you want someone to listen, that is."

"Oh…really?" She seemed to take notice of his last statement. "Do you mean that, Long?"

"My father never had time for me," he admitted. "Look how I-um, I mean, things turned out."

"What about your mother?"

Long's expression hardened. "She died."

Jane frowned slightly. "Sorry…"

"And so did my younger sister," he continued quietly, staring up at the starlit sky. "My father was a workaholic, so he was too busy for me. Wallowing in self-pity, I felt neglected, so I ran away from home when I was still a teenager."

_That's sad…_ She thought to herself. "You had a good reason," she replied in a gentle tone that surprisingly to him, sounded very different from her usual gruff and seemingly angry one. "And it wasn't self-pity."

"Are you saying that out of pity?" The dark-haired man asked lightheartedly.

"Hrmp! I don't pity anyone," Jane snarled convincingly, regaining her harsher tone of voice. "I'm just saying that cause I care about you-…"

He glanced down from the sky and looked at her with a strange expression on his face. "…What was that?"

Jane shrugged it off, trying to appear careless. "Nothing; forget it." Ignoring the look that Long was still giving her, she looked up above. "Think wishing upon a star would work?"

"Why?"

_Then I could wish that Father…_ "No real reason," she replied nonchalantly. "Guess what, Gado and Jenny are getting married."

She could tell he was surprised. "Oh?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't they tell us inside?"

Jane shrugged. "I know it shouldn't affect me, but…it does!" With a disgusted frown directed towards herself, she asked, "Why does it, Long? I mean, it's not like I'll have to pretend Jenny is my mother or anything, but still…"

"You ever fought her?"

She nodded. " Not too damn bad for a bat. We had a…an abrupt first meeting."

"That might have a little to do with it," he said.

"Care to explain?"

"Your prospective kind of changes after you've fought with someone," the Kenpo master told her. "Same thing happened with Uriko and I, even though the first time was just to test her. The second was because she had started morphing when she thought I would be beaten by Kenji."

Jane sighed heavily. "I think I see what you mean."

"Think they're planning on telling us anytime soon?" Long asked.

"Go ask the happy couple yourself," she answered, looking a bit saddened as she turned her head around, casting a look behind at the events going on in the house.

Her friend opened his mouth to answer but was suddenly interrupted by loud noises coming from inside. Following her cue, Long turned as well and the two of them looked through the window to see everyone in the living room with smiles on their faces and were all clapping. Jenny Burtory and Alan Gado were standing together near one side of the room, talking lively with Mitsuko Nonomura and her older 'daughter', Alice Nonomura.

"Looks like the little cat and mole boy are up from their nap," Jane remarked, nodding toward the two teenagers sitting up on the couch, both awake. She looked at her dark-haired companion. "Hmm…they do look cute together, don't you think?"

"I agree," Long said, giving her a small smile. "Even though their first meeting was a little sudden and shaky."

"What happened?" She asked curiously.

"It was after you and Uriko had fought each other; she and I were still searching for her mother, and ran into Kenji. At the time, he was still under mind-control from Busuzima and acted hostile, on the account of his assassination tasks. We fought twice: I beat him the first time, and he defeated me the second." He informed her. "Uriko ran in herself and after a very short conversation between the two, she managed to knock him out. I suppose she'd hit him exceptionally hard, because when we examined him afterwards, he was out of his state of hypnotism."

"How interesting," Jane commented with sincerity. "I wonder how that led to them being a couple?"

"Hmm, I don't know." He grinned and said teasingly, "Why don't you ask them some time."

_He's got a nice smile…_ Jane thought, grinning back. "Hmm, maybe I will…"

"You think we should go in and congratulate your father and Jenny?" Long asked, looking cautiously at her.

"Um, maybe in a little while…" The blonde tomboy replied, casting a glance at the blonde-haired couple. Her grin fell into a small frown.

"You're still feeling weird about it," he stated in a somewhat obvious tone.

"Sue me." Jane answered, sighing. 

"I'm sorry this is affecting you so much." Her brown-eyed friend sympathized.

She didn't reply. Smiling weakly at the young woman, Long placed an arm around her slouched figure comfortingly. 

"It will get better…" he assured her softly.

At first stiffening up at his touch, Jane loosened up slightly and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt him twitch at the contact but he didn't object, just gently wrapped his other arm around her.

"I hope you're right, Long." The young woman said after a moment.

"Do you feel any better…at all?" he asked timidly.

"Strangely…yes," Jane admitted quietly. "I am glad that I could talk to someone about it."

_It's good thing I combed my hair down today…_ she thought as she relaxed back into the comfortable embrace. _Heh…wouldn't it be a riot if he got poked…_

_This…this feels all right…_ the Kenpo master thought, feeling a bit surprised. _I swore that I would never be in intimate contact with others, but…_

"Hey…" Jane started to say. "You never told me about your past…"

"Are you sure you want to hear about it?"

"I wouldn't be persisting if I didn't."

He sighed. "Alright, I will tell you. But this conversation doesn't go outside of us, okay?"

"I promise." She answered as she sat up and faced him.

"It all started shortly after I turned nineteen… As I mentioned earlier, my father was a workaholic, so he wasn't home very often. Soon, I felt agitated with his neglecting, and one day, I foolishly decided to run away from home. While I was preparing to leave, I noticed my father leaving for work. Curious, I followed him; he had always been very furtive about what he did, so I never knew about his job," Long paused. "Jane, have you ever heard of the Tylon Corporation?"

The blonde young woman nodded.

"That day, I found out that my father had been working for Tylon all this time," the Kenpo master said bitterly. "He was one of the scientists that were researching on zoanthropism. I hid behind a desk and eavesdropped on a conversation of theirs, and ended up overhearing about them using ordinary humans as experiments in order to get results. They injected humans with the zoanthrope blood, and then treated them like lab rats.

"I was stunned to hear that, and gasped a bit loudly. Unfortunately, one of the scientists heard me and revealed me to the others. My father seemed rather un-surprised at my presence. He said to his workers, 'My son will be a perfect specimen for the tiger zoanthrope experiment.'"

"H-how preposterous!" Jane fumed.

Her companion nodded his agreement. "I felt betrayed. They strapped me to a gurney, and then injected a strange fluid into my arm. I felt dizzy afterwards, and fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in a tube, and being observed by several others, whom I assumed to be the people in charge of testing the specimen.

"One of them told me to morph; I was confused and asked what they meant by that. My father suddenly appeared and ordered me to transform into my beast form. I laughed and replied, 'That's impossible.' Claiming that I was defiant, they sprayed gas into the tube, telling me that if I didn't morph, they would let the poisonous fumes kill me.'"

"Crude…vile…" Jane whispered her disapproval.

"What could I do…? I was groggy, and choking from the gas. I didn't have much of a choice, so in my mind, I conjured up a picture of myself turning into a tiger…and soon, it happened. My human features started changing; orange fur sprouted from all over my body…my face became bigger…ears sprouted from the top of my head, and a tail grew out from behind…

"My reaction was pure shock and terror; I didn't have a clue what was going on with me. I tried to ask my father why this was happening, but as you know, Jane, you can't talk in beast form. Confused, but furious as well, I gave into the tiger's instincts and broke the glass with my claws. Once free, I turned on the scientists and attacked them…killing a few as a result of my uncontrolled rage."

"That wasn't your fault, you know," The young woman said. 

She saw something glisten in Long's eyes, but he looked away. "My father managed to grab a tranquilizer gun and shoot me with it. While I was temporarily weakened, his assistants restrained me. I struggled until I got exhausted, and was forced to change back into human.

"The weeks following that were filled with experimentation…I was tested, probed, interrogated, you name it. After that period was over, they started training me in the ways of fighting…my father had requested that I learned the martial art of Kenpo. I practiced with other people that were being tested, and soon grew to like the rush of fighting, and the smell of blood teasing my senses…

"Tylon had me enlisted as an assassin. I was sent out on dirty little tasks soon after that. My job was to go out and kill whomever they ordered me to. Smaller jobs were assigned to a few other assassins; such these two other high-ranked ones named Bakuryu and Fox. As the years passed, I improved, and from Tylon's words, my 'ability to kill in an instant using no weapons', earned me the reputation of a top assassin."

"W-whoa…" Jane said in awe. "How did get yourself to stop…?"

The Kenpo master sighed and continued, "A little while after I turned twenty-six, I was assigned to go and kill the father of this family that had suddenly broken their agreement with Tylon. That same night, I went out to their household at a late hour to accomplish my task. I looked through one of the windows and saw my victim sitting on a couch in front of the television, his arm wrapped around the shoulder of a little boy. I presumed it was his son.

"Silently, I pushed the window open, and stalked up to them. When the father turned his head to talk to his son, I pounced on the unsuspecting man. I morphed, and quickly cut his throat open with my claws; he died almost instantly.

"Even though my job was already completed, I found myself turning to look at the boy sitting nearby. His eyes were brimming with tears as he dove off the couch and went to cradle his father's head in his small arms. He had a head of black hair, and appeared only about six or seven years old. While I regained my human form and prepared to leave, I suddenly stopped when I heard crying. Turning back to look at the two, I stood there, seeing the boy weep over the murder of his father, and keep calling out, 'Daddy…Daddy…' in a choked sob.

"As I was standing there, watching, I wondered where his mother was. Then I remembered reading that the father and his son were the only living members of their family. I felt my heart churn and twist; it was then that I realized the people that I had killed corrupted dozens of families everywhere."

A tear escaped from Jane's eyes, it was a rare event.

Long's own eyes were beginning to glimmer. "A few minutes later, subjects of Tylon rushed into the house to destroy the evidence. I also recall seeing one of them snatch the young boy, and there was a discussion about what zoanthrope animal he was going to be injected with. Witnessing that event, I knew that I couldn't continue assassinating people. I ran away from the Tylon without letting them know. They sent a lot of their assassins after me: Bakuryu, Fox…even Uriko…"

"What…Uriko?!" Jane exclaimed.

He nodded. "She was only nine years old at the time, and had been under mind-control, so it wasn't her fault; Uriko wasn't doing it willingly. I fought all of them, including Yugo, Alice, Mitsuko, and even your father at certain times. Somehow, I managed to escape to the mountains of China and secluded myself from the world for five years… Until Uriko found me a few months ago, asking for help to teach her Kenpo so she could rescue Mitsuko, who had been kidnapped by Shenlong and the rest of the ZLF."

He let out a heavy sigh. "The rest is history."

Jane blinked. "Wow, I'm not quite sure how to respond…"

"Do you think I am a terrible person?" Long questioned, meeting her eyes.

"No," she replied firmly. "Most of it wasn't your fault. It just astonishes me that you carried all of this on your conscience…how have you managed to stay sane? I don't know how delicate my mental state would be if I went through all the things that you did…"

"I don't have sanity, or a conscience." He answered bluntly.

"Of course you do!" The leopard zoanthrope said. "You know what, you're amazing, seriously…with how you handled your past experiences and everything…"

"I wish I felt the same way you do, Jane." The Kenpo master told her. "But…I do feel more…free, now that I have told someone."

"'It is not good to bottle up your feelings…'" She quoted wisely.

"I know…" her companion replied. "That's why I was so persistent in trying to find out what was wrong with you. It wasn't because I was purposely provoking you; it was because I wanted you to know that I understand how you felt, the feeling of being trapped…not being able to confide in anyone but yourself…"

Jane closed her eyes. "As a child, I never had any girl friends that I could talk to; my parents were dead, and even though Father adopted and took care of me, I was never very close with him, until he went off on a mercenary mission when I was fourteen. In school, most girls I knew shied away from me because they said I acted too much like a boy. My loneliness was the main reason that lead me to being a fighter."

"Jane…" Long whispered sympathetically. 

Not answering, she felt her forehead with her hand; her eyes were still closed. Wordlessly, the black-haired man placed a finger on each side of her temples and gently rubbed them in a circular motion.

"Your head hurt?" he asked softly.

"N-no, it's just…that I'm…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"It's all right…you don't need to explain…" he replied after a moment of silence had fell between them.

When she finally opened her eyes, Long stopped the massaging and stared into them, spotting the tired look in her hazy blue irises. Chilled by a sudden gust of cold air that swept by her, Jane shivered and laid her head on his shoulder.

__

I hope he doesn't object… The young woman thought.

He didn't; in fact, he lifted his arm and tucked her underneath so that they sat very closely to each other. A strange, almost foreign feeling filled the Kenpo master's heart and he let out a raspy breath.

__

What is this that I'm feeling…? He wondered, confused by it. _It-it's toward her…I think I feel a connection to Jane…_

Deciding not to worry about it Long shook his head free of the thoughts. Turning his attention back to Jane, he picked up one of her hands, running his fingers along the clammy surface. Bringing it up to his face, he placed his lips on her hand, keeping them there for a while before setting it down into his lap, intertwined with his own hand. Jane watched him silently the entire time, her mouth dropping slightly open at what he did. She smiled shakily; she had liked it. 

All of a sudden they heard the faint scuffling of sneakers and light laughter behind them. Yellow light shone over the two as a familiar voice called out, "Master! Come in with us!"

"You won't be able to guess what just happened," another voice said after the first one.

Giggling, Uriko Nonomura ran giddily out into her backyard with her boyfriend, Kenji Ohgami following right behind her. The couple quieted down as soon as they saw their two friends sitting closely together in the position they were in. Feeling startled Jane and Long shot up from the porch steps, both flushing slightly.

"Um…" the Kenpo disciple started to say, looking away.

"…Sorry for interrupting," Kenji finished for his girlfriend.

Smiling weakly at her master and her friend, Uriko took the ninja's arm and they started to go back inside.

"H-hey, wait for us!" Jane finally spoke up.

"I, um, hope we didn't ruin your private time," The brown-haired birthday girl said sheepishly as she and Kenji stopped and turned around.

"What's going on?" Her master asked innocently, directing his student away from the subject.

"Oh, it's about Jenny and Mr. Gado," Uriko told him. "Jane, do you already know?"

"Yeah." The tomboy admitted. "And I didn't accept it before…but I think I do now." She turned her face and exchanged a smile with Long.

"Are you happy for your father and Jenny?" Kenji asked. 

"Surprisingly…yes," Jane replied.

"That's great!" Uriko said enthusiastically. "Come on, Mother is about to toast them with wine."

"Aren't you two a little young to be drinking?" her master kidded lightly.

"We're sticking with cider," Kenji answered with a grin. 

"Hmm…I bet someday, we'll be toasting the two of you at your engagement." Jane teased the young couple. They looked at each other and blushed.

"Well, maybe…" The dark-haired ninja replied softly, causing Uriko's eyes to widen. He quickly said, "Uh, I mean, if later on-waaay later, of course-Uriko wants to, that is!"

Face flushing a shade of crimson, the female student smiled shyly at him in response. Together, they walked back into the living room where the others were, their linked hands portraying the possible future.

"Everyone's paired up," Jane remarked perceptively in a dry tone of voice. Still, she smiled at Uriko and Kenji's figures disappearing from her view. "Well, as long as they're happy…"

"You never know could happen, Jane…" Long told her gently; she looked away as she let out a quiet cough at what he'd just said, hiding her slightly red face. Looking at her and offering his hand, he said, "Let's go."

"All right," she agreed, taking his hand.

"Hey, something just occurred to me," he suddenly said, smiling to let her know that he would be kidding. "Aren't you also too young to drink?"

Jane swatted him lightly with her free hand; chuckling softly, he ducked. As they followed Uriko and Kenji, the blonde tomboy briefly turned her head back, casting one last look at the porch steps.

_Long's right,_ she thought with a grin. _Who knows what will happen…?_

Feeling better, Jane turned her attention back to walking toward the living room, where her friends were waiting.

"Hey you two!" Uriko greeted them cheerfully at the entrance, her boyfriend standing next to her. Then, she looked around at the others and lowered her voice, "Say, Kenji and I were thinking of going hiking tomorrow with a group of other people…"

"But…we can't make it," Kenji said. "Would the two of you like to go in our place?"

"Assuming that Jenny won't convince me to go shopping for some frilly dress…" Jane twitched her nose at the thought of dressing up. "…Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have time."

"Same here," Long replied.

"Great!" Uriko said with glee. She handed her master two tickets and then the young couple walked off.

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow," Jane remarked.

"Dreading it already?" her companion asked, smiling.

"Yeah, Long, I just hate your company." She joked, then lowered her voice a notch. "I hated our deep discussion outside, and how we comforted each other." 

He flushed.

The young woman shrugged. "Oh well, if you really annoy me, don't be surprised to see a leopard coming to say 'hello' to you, heh…"

"You can tell her if that does happen, a certain tiger will be looking foreword it," he replied with a quick wink.

"Jane!" They suddenly heard someone call out.

"It's Father," Jane said after looking in the direction of the voice. "I think I should go see what he wants."

"Go ahead." 

"See you tomorrow then." She said. The blue-eyed woman gave Long a brief, somewhat awkward hug. Noticing that the others weren't watching he quickly kissed her on the forehead affectionately, the shy action feeling like soft cotton against her skin.

Both of them blushing, Jane mumbled a sheepish, "See you later," and went up to her father.

When she caught up with him, Jenny commented to Jane with an innocent look on her face, "It's nice to see that you interact so well with Long."

"Uh, well, he's good to have as a, a…" Jane trailed off.

"A _friend_, right?" The bat zoanthrope finished for her, winking slyly.

"Um, yeah, whatever." Jane answered, trying to sound nonchalant. She turned to look at Long and coincidentally caught his eye. "Just a…friend…" 

_Hrmp…she's good…_ She thought, looking at Jenny out of the corner of her eye._ Well…who says that nothing will happen between us later…?_

"I hope you will convince him to go out more," Alan requested, coming to stand next to his daughter. "The life of a recluse doesn't suit him."

__

I'll definitely try…and besides, it wouldn't hurt to get to know him in the process… Looking away, the blue-eyed zoanthrope smiled and glanced out the window, at the stars in the sky; they appeared to wink at her. Still smiling, Jane turned her attention back to the party, and her eyes caught Long's again. The two of them shared a secret look, the event they were going to share together tomorrow hanging in their minds.

****

The End

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Author's Note: Yeah, I know that I said I wouldn't write another BR fic until number 3 came out, but I just couldn't resist writing about my second favorite couple! J Well, I hope you readers enjoyed this story; keep an eye out for my next huge one! It's going to center around Uriko and Kenji, and the story line will be pretty intense (at least, I hope you all will think so). Thanks for reading!

With love for my fans,

Tiger5913


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